In the GSMLS serving Sussex County, NJ, and surrounding areas, most listings have an outdoor picture as the primary for a home for sale. Search for homes anywhere and this is the most common practice.
We have many condos and townhouses in Sparta, Vernon, Hardyston, Hamburg, Crystal Springs, Great Gorge Village, etc. Frankly, from the outside they all look alike - and there are a lot for sale. Some real estate is not particularly attractive from the exterior but one can have a wonderful surprise inside. (All MY listings, of course are just like me - beautiful inside and out!)
Of course, I think about more than just the primary photo when I list a home for sale. The basic Realtor.com now shows 4 photos, so I order accordingly.
- If the primary photo is not the exterior, do you assume the house is ugly?
- Does a picture of a wonderful gourmet kitchen make you want to see more?
- When all the exteriors of townhomes in a section of a development such as Crystal Springs are identical, what appeal does an outside picture hold for you - if any?
Which of each side-by-side photo from homes I'm listing for sale in Sussex County, NJ, would be more likely to have you take a closer look!
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Condo in Appalachian Hotel, Mountain Creek resort, Vernon, NJ |
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Great questions, Irene! My feeling is that in the examples you give I would use the outside shot for each of them. While I could see some reasonable exceptions, in general, I think buyers are looking for an overview of the property in the primary photo. This is one of the many reasons sellers need to stage the outside of their home as well as the inside. I do think using an inside photo raises some question in a buyer's mind as to why the outside shot wasn't used.
In addition to helping my clients prepare their home to look its best inside and out, I also encourage them to have their exterior MLS photos taken on a sunny day if at all possible. It may seem like a little issue, but if the sun is shining and the skies are blue, the house gives a better feeling than with gray, cloudy skies.
I do like to see creative exterior shots when possible, like taking the shot through a tree with some leafy branches framing the picture.
Just my 2 cents on this. I'll be interested to see what others have to say.
Mary,
How wonderful to get the perspective of a stager. Thank you for those 2 cents!
Irene, for the primary photo, I think you need as good a picture of the facade as you can get. With your Queen Ann, that's not an issue. With some of the places I've listed (one we fondly named the Permastone Palace) it's more of a challenge. Still, if I don't see a facade, I assume the place is really gawdawful hideous, even with fabulous interior shots. You definitely need the exterior front somewhere in the batch.
Irene...
If I have to choose I would go Left, right, Left. I guess I'm partial when it comes to the bigger picture :)
TLW...ROAR!
Irene,
I would choose r, r, then left. The first pic is too far away for me to get sense of condition of home; unless I am buying land.
I do want to see exterior shot of home to get a sense of style of home and gardens. I don't want to see driveway and recycling bins, but I do want to see front entrance and walkway, whether there is covered porch or not, for example.
I don't want realtor to write about the gardens and then insert a photo of winter garden; they should ask seller for photo of garden in full bloom.
I also want to see interior shots to give me sense of layout and condition of house. If there are no interior shots then I wonder how bad it is. I want to see main rooms - kitchen, mbr, a bathroom and others as space allows.
Thanks for your input, Pat, TLW and Sharon.
I fully agree an exterior must be somewhere in the mix. Sharon - You are obviously "clued in" on the reason we sneaky real estate agents sometimes omit interior shots. I am currently listing of a cookie-cutter condo with only exterior pictures...
This input is helpful and fun, thanks all!